Washing-machine



'ITE

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 6,989, dated January 1, 1850.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANSOM MAREAN, of Laurenceville, in the county ofTioga and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in \Vashing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the characteristicswhich distinguish my invent-ion from all others heretofore known,reference being made to the accompanying drawing, forming part of thisspecification, which represents a perspective View of my washingmachine.

My invention consists of a moving bed of rolls arranged in such mannerthat they are turned with different Velocities; the clothes being rubbedand turned by the rolls, and squeezed between them and a compressor muchin the same manner as in ordinary hand washing.

In the accompanying drawing A is the tub in which the water and clothesare placed, and which is supported at a convenient distance above theground onlegs a, a. At one end of the tub a series of horizontal rolls Bare arranged one above the other. These are of unequal diameter and areso placed that their journals lie in the arc of a circle. They form thebed against which the clothes are pressed. The compressor, C, is a blockfluted on its face (that is, the side facing the rolls), pierced withholes, and supported on friction wheels. A stem D projects from itsback, and is hinged to a bent lever E which projects over the end of thetub, and forms a handle to which the hand of the operator is applied;the hinging of the stem to the lever forms a toggle joint, and thepowerapplied to the handle will exert a great pressure upon the clothesplaced between the compressor and the bed. As the quantity of clothesacted upon at one operation will vary considerably, the stem of thecompressor is constructed in such manner that it can be lengthened orshortened, this is done by making it in two pieces 6, 0, one of whichslides over the other, and which are pierced with holes through which apin is passed to connect the two together when the two pieces areadjusted to the required length.

In order to give a rotary motion to the on their journals.

rolls, a band (Z, is passed over pulleys turned on one of theirextremities, and around a pulley secured to a horizontal shaft F, at theopposite end of the tub; to this shaft is secured a ratchet wheel 6which is acted upon by a spring ratchet f, secured to the lever handle.As the lever handle is raised this ratchet slips over the inclined faceof the ratchet teeth while the Wheel is prevented from moving by a pawl9. As the lever handle is depressed the ratchet acting on the radialfaces of the teeth of the wheel 6 turns the shaft and puts the band (Z,in motion, which acting upon the rolls, turns them also As the rolls areof unequal size they will turn with different velocities, and will thusrub the clothes lying against them with an energy proportioned to thevelocity with which one roller tends to draw the clothes forward fasterthan that which precedes it, and at the same time will turn the massinto a new position to be acted upon by the fluted compressor, thusgreatly quickening the cleansing and reducing the amount of laborrequired.

I have hitherto described the rollers composing the bed as being ofdifferent sizes while the pulleys are of equal size but it is obviousthat the rolls may all be of equal size and the pulleys may differ fromeach other so as to cause the surfaces of the rolls to move withdiflering velocities. The machine may also be used for wringing theclothes after they have been washed and rinsed, as the water may beexpressed from them by compression between the compres sor and theroller bed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-The combination of a bed of rollers moving at different velocities witha compressor for the purpose of washing, rinsing, and wringing clothes,substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 13th day ofSeptember A. D. 1849.

RANSOM MAREAN.

Witnesses T, H. WATSON, WM. D. WASHINGTON.

